For some developers this dream could become true because MochiMedia created the Mochi GAME Developer Fund: a $10 million fund that will help promising Flash and social game developers support their games through sponsorship, licensing and publishing deals.

The fund will assist small Flash game development studios and independent game developers worldwide in building world-class games and businesses.

You will find the details in the official page, with some FAQs. Here’s the four more interesting:

Q: What is the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: The Mochi GAME Developer Fund $10 million USD fund for investing in promising Flash and social game developers through sponsorship, licensing, and publishing. The goal of the Fund is to assist developers in launching and building rockstar premium games on the Mochi platform, and to cultivate long term relationships with Flash and social game developers looking to build world-class games and businesses.

Q: What is the target deal size for the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: The Mochi GAME Developer Fund intends to partner with Flash and social game developers on a sponsorship, licensing or publishing basis anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000. Additional consideration may be given to other types of relationships on a case-by-case basis. Generally, the funds will be given upon the achievement of certain milestones of the game development process. The specific milestones can be discussed with the Mochi GAME Developer Fund team.

Q: What types of games is the Mochi GAME Developer Fund seeking?
A: We are open to Flash and social games of all genres and gameplay types targeting all kinds of audiences. Particular attention will be given to games that have high potential to monetize via MochiCoins microtransactions, include social elements that may be enhanced via MochiSocial or are particularly great games.

Q: I don’t live in the United States. Can I still work with the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: Absolutely! Flash and social game developers are located all across the world. We care less about where you live and care more about helping you build great games using the Mochi platform.

According to these FAQs, it looks like an exclusive sponsorship, but I hope to give you more information as I’m running to submit the form and ask for some millions for my next game.

FOG is looking for any game, no matter how old it is or how wide spread it is already, as long as it’s a decent game. In this case FOG will buy you a site locked version of your game, or even the .fla source code.

What happens when FOG buys a site locked version of your game

* The game is sitelocked to FOG
* You have to interface your game with their API
* You have to remove all external branding and ads

What happens when FOG buys the source code of your game

* FOG retains the rights to re-release, resell, re-use, delete, make more version and all in all everything with your code
* All branding, ads and credits will be removed

Note: if your game is already sponsored, you may no longer have the right to sell your source code. Check with your sponsor as FOG is not responsible for your previous deals

My experience

I am currently managing the latest small details about BarBalance. I’m selling the source code. Working with Neil is a pleasure as he’s very kind, professional and will support you through the entire process. Just consider FOG’s HQ is located in United Kingdom when your plan to chat with him.

His email, as well as his Skype, Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo and GTalk ids is Neil[at]FOG[dot]COM

I asked him a couple of questions just to give you as much information as possible

Are you really buying ANY kind of game .flas?

I primarily buy site locks of games, however if the source is available then we do try and purchase that too. I’m not out to purchase things left right and centre, all the games that are offered we review meticulously to see if it meets our standards, and at the moment, the majority of submissions are being rejected.

What’s the meaning of buying source codes? Don’t you think in most cases the sources would be hard to understand (i.e variable names in foreign languages, no optimization and so on…)

Sources in other languages aren’t too much of a concern as we have a multilingual staff base here at fog, if the code is not optimised then our in house programmer will go over it and see what can be done

Do you already have an example of a bought and republished game?

We have plenty of site locked games on our site. for games that we have bought source codes of and redone as fog games, and our own developed games can be seen at www.freegamesforyourwebsite.com

a few examples of site locks are

Pizza Pronto
Tank In Action
Mountain Rescue Driver
Perfect Balance 2

How much can a developer earn from FOG?

Generally prices range from $100-$500 for site locks, source code can be anything from $100-$1000 or more depending on the quality… I don’t feel that there is a limit on what a developer can earn for a
decent game, if it is really that good and someone wants it they’ll lay the money on the table to get it.

Hope this will help you to further monetize your games.

** edit **

BarBalance source code sold :)

So I am releasing the new version, compatible with the new feed and tested with WordPress 2.9.2. You can find it at the official page.

Talking about plugins, I am developing a new theme/plugin using crontables that automatically feeds the games, fixes the tables if MochiMedia updates the feed, and chooses the best games to publish.

Everything without any interaction from the user. The ultimate “forget about it and make money with your arcade site” plugin.

Stay tuned.

Now he is explaining us a new way to monetize Flash games: GamesChart

« When I first saw the announcement on Flash Game Developers group on www.linkedIn.com about the GamesChart beta program I immediately thought to participate. It was a surprise to me to find that my game Haunted House was at first position for the entire 4 weeks of the beta program!

Actually also my Alice Memory game is also on the chart, even if never more than in the 6th position.

What GamesChart is about?

It’s another way to generate money from you Flash games. The nice thing is that it is not an alternative to the traditional banner you place during the loading of the game. But it goes together.
The main idea is to have publisher to “bid” for which game will be in the chart and this will generate extra revenue to the developer, to the publisher who correctly bid and of course to the GamesChart organization.

This is from Barry White directly from linkedIn group.

I thought I’d include some more information about how GamesChart can earn developers money:

+ Every game that has the GamesChart API embedded in it is tracked by GamesChart.

+ The developer can also choose to enable or disable a series of dynamic charts that actually display within the Flash game itself.

+ The most popular games each week make their way to the top of the charts.

+ Any gamers who click on a game listed in these charts is taken to play that game on another portal.

+ Publishers use an advanced pay per click bidding system to purchase this traffic and drive users back to their own sites to play the games they have bid on.

+ Games need to be uploaded to the Publishers portal before they can receive traffic. (great for seeding)

+ Developers receive up to a 50% revenue share of any outbound clicks generated from within their game should they choose to display the charts. (also full blacklisting available)

+ Publishers also receive 10% of total revenues generated from any GamesChart enabled games featured on their site.

I am going to explain the very easy steps to follow to have a game added to this GamesChart.

In order to do so I am going to provide my other game Tokyo Train with this service as well.

First thing you need to register as developer, if you don’t already. This is quite easy to do, just follow instruction on the site.

You then are prompted to add a game:

So do not hesitate: go to click the button and create the new game:

Instructions are easy and nice to follow: I have to admit they did a very good job on make your job easy.

You are now prompted with the game id that you need to put on the component property to have your game identified.
Of course first of all you need to download the API library from the “GamesChart Wiki” link.

You have the choice to get the component for Adobe Flash IDE or the complete API if you use FlashDevelop and for both choices you can choose between AS3 and AS2. My choice was for the component and AS3.

The very first time you download the zip pack, you need to double click on the GamesChartAPI-AS3.mpx:

This will install the component, and that’s the only thing you really need to install: brilliant.

Now open your FLA and browse for the components (Windows > Components menu): you will find the GamesChartAPI one.

Now, again it’s easy: drag and drop the component onto the stage (better if at the top layer):

Do not worry about the position: it will be hidden once the game starts. Do you remember the game id? Go to grab it and paste it in the component inspector:

That’s all! You can now publish the game: you will notice a small G icon on top right of the stage.

You can force to have this cute icon can be hidden or display when you want. Or you can also move it.

I would suggest you to leave it for the entire game and in that position: it’s the best position, just adjust your buttons if you have any conflict.

In this way a player can click on the icon anytime during the game. This will let him vote your game and show chart. In fact when the icon is clicked the chart will appear and will let you open a new window with the games on the list.

You need one more thing: to publish the game. You can get your SWF file or you can first upload on MochiAds with version control as I am doing. This is the best solution because your game will be updated all over the world with the cute G icon.
That’s all!
Enjoy!

PS.: I just discovered that Haunted House is no more on first position! So let’s go there and click the cute “G” icon!! »

It’s a draw game, a classic in which you must draw a line to make a ball reach the goal, but with some twists, such as the ability to control ball’s speed with arrow keys, red zones that will kill your ball if it touches the lines you drew, 42 levels some of them with moving environment, and so on.

The engine is almost complete, and at the moment I am working on level design, then I’ll retouch the graphics and polish some details, and it will be completed.

As you can see, I am keeping the menu very simple, with only two buttons, and some space for the sponsors. In the level selection screen, there is also a lot of space for sponsor logos.

The only thing I still have to decide is how to save level progression… I don’t know if I should use a Mochi account, or simply save it as a shared object, or using Mochi Coins to unlock some levels, or allowing to play some levels only on the official site…

The game will be completed in about a week, if there is anyone interested in sponsoring it, I am open to any deal since I am still working on the game… just drop me a mail at info[at]emanueleferonato[dot]com.

If I lived in Venezuela, things could have been quite different. This is the story of John Freddy Vega, a blogger and geek from Venezuela.

He runs Cristalab, a blog full of AS3 and PHP tips, just like mine. But it’s not as easy as it seems.

« Any self-respecting geek has certain basic needs, and Venezuelans are no exception: smartphones, laptops, permanent internet connection, access to information and, above all, the ability to purchase a lot of stuff we love although we don’t need it at all.

That’s why Venezuela’s technology case is so curious. We are one of the Countries with highest Blackberry penetration, so much so that RIM (Research In Motion: the Canadian company that developes the BlackBerry smartphone) people were forced to know we’re not an African country, we have crappy but still profitable Internet connections and we can even (in many cases) afford a cable TV.

On the other side, we are a Country under heavy control by the Government about the purchase of dollars, either to travel (in which case the Government itself tells you how many dollars you can purchase, at a given fee) and for internet shopping (which limit – the so called “quota limit” – is $400).

The control over dollars makes it impossible to buy on the Internet

Do you charge in dollars? Then you must sell them to the Government, that pays you in the official currency, with a currency exchange set by the Government itself (at the time of writing this article, 4.30 Bolivars for every dollar) and you can’t have dollar deposits in Venezuelan banks unless you have so much money that they’ll open for you a deposit abroad and let you manage it from your bank.

These restrictions are particularly annoying to the geek, when he wants to do things than almost any other Latin American geek can do, like buying a new Tablet on eBay or on Amazon, or buying a Geek Pillow. Needless to say we can’t buy things like the iPad or – much more to my taste – the Nexus One from Apple or Google pages.

Venezuela used to be a technological Country

In the rest of Latin America, Venezuela is seen (or has been seen for many years) as a rich country, thanks to large amounts of money due to oil incomes. The unseen truth unveils high poverty levels, which increase as we get devaluations (recently we had the last one, 100%) and that our ability to acquire foreign currency and/or items brought from abroad is becoming more and more complicated. Consumption limits and exchange controls are now part of our biggest problems (not to mention other problems like the energy crisis or the bad water service we are suffering in this moment).

Just to say one example, not so long ago the technology gap between U.S. and Venezuela was about a week, and this made Venezuela an highly technological Country. Now the gap can be of months.

You can leave the Country only if approved by the Government

I still bitterly recall that because of these limitations I couldn’t go to Adobe Live 2009 in Lima, and before that I couldn’t go to Bogota to an Aikido seminar with two of the most important masters of the continent in this Martial Art. Things that for other people are just a matter of having or not having enough money to afford them, for us it’s a matter of having the luck our currency is authorized and not exceeding the limit imposed.

We must clarify something: currency regulation is nothing new, and it’s a valid idea under certain circumstances, moreover it’s not the first time we have it. What’s illegal is: 1. It is not common to have limited access to foreign exchange 2. A control on the price of the dollar should be a temporary measure, usually a couple of months at most. We’re having it for about 3 years.

How to deal with these restrictions

If you need the new MacBook, or the Nexus One or whatever, your solution is getting the money through Paypal (which has no agreements with any bank in the Venezuela), having someone bringing them from abroad and pay them in Bolivars, then buy it on the local market with prices that can even be three times the original price in foreign markets or get dollars in the parallel market (black market).

I do not want to enter the political issue, which is always tricky, but make it clear that being geek in my Country, Venezuela is becoming a more and more complicated issue, usually with more disappointments than successes.

I am sure we will seek ways to keep up on what we love and – in many cases – what feeds us.

Be careful when you are choosing who you want to be at the Government. »

Do you live in a Country with restrictions? Share with us your experience, contact me to have it published.

Besides the innovation and the cool features, the most interesting thing is the iPad compatibility with all existing iPhone applications and obviously the SDK to create dedicated applications, at the full 1024×768 resolution.

With the same iPhone Developer Program account you will access to the SDK, the simulator, and all the tool you need to develop iPad applications and game.

Are you ready for this? The first iPhone developers raised a lot of bucks… what’s your opinion?

Here it is your chance to win up to $5,000!!

Come2Play – Creators of the first white-label social gaming platform and multiplayer game API – are holding a contest, in conjunction with the LinkedIn Flash Game Developers group, for the development of turn based multiplayer games with prizes totaling $8,000.

In a gaming world where new games are launched and disappear just as quickly, multiplayer games with a social infrastructure are a huge hit amongst users; developing a loyal fan base that come back daily to play against each other and their friends.

Come2Play has developed this infrastructure and are inviting game developers to take advantage of it.

Come2Play is revitalizing the formula by allowing for correspondence challenges. With correspondence challenges, a player makes the first move in a game and then sends it to all their friends through email or their favorite social network. Each individual friend can then send back their next move. Each friend who responds starts a new game with the creator of the game. This gaming form provides a huge viral opportunity to game developers looking to expand the reach of their games.

In light of this initiative, Come2Play is launching their latest contest – The Games That Challenge the World Competition.

Using Come2Play’s multiplayer API, developers are challenged to create head-to-head turn based multiplayer games that fit this concept. Prizes will be given out to games that successfully implement this turn based model based on the contest’s concept. Games will be judged based on originality, design, game play and use of Come2Play’s API features. Judging will be done by Come2Play in conjunction with a panel of industry judges.

Games entered into the competition do not have to be exclusive. In addition, you can retrofit an old game that has already been published and released.

$8,000 in Prizes!

Prizes for the contest will be as follows:
$5,000 for first place,
$2,000 for second place
$1,000 for third place

The contest runs from January 1st through March 31st. Games must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on March 31st, 2010.

In addition to the prize money, Come2Play will pay developers with single player games, which have over 100,000 game plays and a rating over 3.5 on Kongregate or Newgrounds, up to $3,000 to convert their single player game to a multiplayer version. Contact Come2Play at submissions[at]come2play.com to see if you qualify.

More information at the official page

After two months with HiRoads in the wild, Filippo shares with us the result of his project.

« Here we are again after about two monts since HiRoads went live!

Today, the 21st of January, I can count 1203 registered users and 250 roads published on www.hiroads.com
What does it mean? It means an average of 20 new users and 4 new roads per day.
Also a grand total of 1050$ (Mochiads + AdSense + 2 site-locked version) was earned.
But let’s start from the beginning.

No good deals on FGL, so I went the solo way!
A light version of HiRoads was released only on Newgrounds and Kongregate, bringing 115,651 views the first and 894 the second.
The game released was a light version because it had only 18 roads and had many in-game advertisement of the full game playable on www.hiroads.com (more roads, level editor, community and user generated content). I was trying to drive traffic on the site: instead of building a game portal and drive traffic through sponsored games, I tried to build a sort of portal around only one good game.

The Newgrounds experience (releas date: 11/14/09): it was saturday afternoon when the game was approved on NG so many players were online and it had good scores immediately.
I missed daily top 5 only for a position, but HiRoads was the 2nd best scored game of the day. NG daily top 5 mixes movies and games, and movies get high scores very easily so that games are flushed from the ranking very often. So it was for HiRoads: 4 movies in the daily top 5 and only one game (which was very good indeed). NG really needs a daily top 5 for games only.
After a week, sadly noticing how bad were the games on the NG frontpage, I asked personally TomFulp for the frontpage. Obviously I gently asked for it, starting the message with something “Hi Tom, maybe you missed HiRoads blah blah… it has good scores blah blah…”, and so it was frontpaged.
It stayed only for a week (again, I see games that are on the frontpage for months and I can’t understand how those games can be played) but it was enough to receive 115,651 views, 1,994 votes ( 3.73 avg) and 107 reviews (7.7) score.
NG has the usual problem: a storm of low score voting people that mess up things a lot. No matter how good is your game, you are going to receive a bunch of 0 votes only because it exists. Also, the average player on NG is not very smart, I had many low rated reviews saying “its a skyroads ripoff/clone/copy” and guess what? It actually is a skyroads clone! I didn’t want to believe what I was reading.
Anyway I had very good traffic towards hiroads.com from newgrounds and the game spread on a million other sites.

The Kongregate experience (release date: 11/15/09): very little to say, it was a big error releasing the game on sunday. It lasted 2 days and then was lost in the ocean… I was very curious to see how a good arcade game could do on KONG, a portal where it seems that the millionth TD clone can make you a rich man… Sadly, we will never know!

The HiRoads experience: traffic on hiroads.com varied a lot. I had an average of 5k views until the 22nd of Dec and then dropped to under 1k (I think that’s because the game was played during school time). Since the 4th of Jan I have 2k visitors a day. I monetize traffic with AdSense (waiting approvation from CPMStar), but I cannot define a trend as earnings vary too much. I also got afflicted by smart pricing that made clicks to bring in veeeeeery little. So I tuned ads on hiroads.com, switched some illustrated to text, removed some useless and my CPC went back to a normal state.
How users behave on hiroads.com?
I built the site integrated with phpbb and facebook. Nearly no one wrote on the forum and only 29 users connected their account to their facebook profile.
The community factor was pretty much a failure, but I didn’t give up. I built an ajax chat system similar to the one on GameJolt, and that became the most used feature of the site. The chat actually is flooded by students that spend their time insulting each others and I seriously doubt that they ever played the game…
Another curious fact is that I have about a thousand users that registered an account but never activated it! I’m sending remainder periodically, but probably the mail is caught by the spam filter.

Now the plan is to build a facebook application that let you play the game and users’ roads, but not build levels… I hope it spreads so I can count on more facebook traffic and test its viral capability.
Also, I’m still waiting on MindJolt approvation and we all know that this site alone can make the difference.
Soooo, I hope that the most is yet to come…

Conclusions:
I tried different marketing solutions but I can assume that all my traffic (direct or indirect) comes from the good old NG. A lucky strike on NG is everything (at least for my experience with HiRoads). Kong opportunity was wasted, and so was the attempt to advertise the game on indie blogs (I was pushing in the skyroads remake direction). I only got a mention in the “link friday dump” on Jayisgames, which is always good, but that did not bring too much traffic as a full article would have done.
I’m waiting for a little redesign of the site before trying to push a little more on the marketing side.
So, Friday is the better day of the week… it seems that a lot of people play games on Friday evening and night (UTC time), and so on Saturday noon.
Starting back, I would release the game on Friday both on NG and KONG, would make the registration process easier (no phpbb, the forum is useless at the moment, but I still hope it populates) and would heavy market the game only after it has started.

It’s all for now, if something interesting will happen, I’ll let you know! »

During these days, I saw a lot of people publishing MochiAds’s 2009 CPM.

I have to say you must not trust such kind of statistic because CPM may vary a lot according to two variables:

1) The number of impressions

Sometimes you see developers saying “hey, I’m having a $2 eCPM!! wow!!” – This happens probably because they’re having a very few visits and a couple of clicks, raising the estimated CPM. Once (if ever) they’ll reach some thousands plays, the CPM will surely stabilize on a lower value, usually from $0.30 to $0.50.

2) The Country your game is being played in

Since MochiMedia does not sell ads in every single Country of the world, in most Countries your game won’t show relevant ads because there aren’t advertiser willing to show (and pay for showing) their ads to people living in Countries outside their market.

This means a very different CPMs from Country to Country

Top 40 Countries in 2009

The following is a list of top 40 countries that gave me the best CPM during all 2009. I included in the list only countries that gave me at least 100,000 impressions, to avoid misunderstandings explained at point 1

It will be interesting to see which country will improve its CPM this year… I am betting on China… :)